2023-04-19 01:54:26
WhatsApp, owned by Meta, has threatened to leave the UK should the government adopt the Online Security Bill, claiming the bill would effectively remove its encryption mechanisms. The firm, along with its competing company Signal and five other apps, said that should the bill become law, users will no longer be protected by end-to-end encryption. This type of encryption ensures that no one but the recipient can read the communications that have been delivered.
He ” Online Security Bill ” was initially intended to criminalize material inciting self-harm posted on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, but was later modified to focus more generally on illegal adult and child-related content. security. The original proposal was to ban content promoting self-harm posted on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Despite government officials saying the measure would not ban end-to-end encryption, messaging apps have stated in an open letter that “The bill does not provide explicit protection for encryption.”
He goes on to say that if implemented in its current form, it “could empower OFCOM [la Oficina de Comunicaciones] to try to force proactive scanning of private messages on end-to-end encrypted communication services, thus defeating the purpose of end-to-end encryption and compromising the privacy of all users.” According to WhatsApp and Signal, OFCOM is a government-sanctioned institution tasked with regulating postal, telecommunications and broadcasting services in the UK. However, if the bill passes, OFCOM could misuse its ability to examine individual chats and spy on users without their knowledge.
“Simply put, the bill poses an unprecedented threat to the privacy, security and protection of all UK citizens and the people they communicate with around the world, while encouraging governments adversaries who may try to draft copy drafts. laws”, Signal has said in a statement on Twitter that it will “not back down on providing private and secure communications”, in response to the open letter encouraging the UK government to rethink the way the law is currently drafted. . Both companies have said they would stop supporting the apps in the UK rather than risk lowering their current encryption standards. They have stuck to their statements.
WhatsApp is considered to be the number one most used encryption app, having gained more than two billion monthly active users in the previous years. Since WhatsApp is used all over the world, the company believes its fears are well founded. He explains in the letter that it is impossible to continue providing end-to-end encryption services while the UK government expands its monitoring of applications. In the letter, WhatsApp and Signal said they are not the only ones having problems with the UK bill and that others share these concerns. “The United Nations has issued a stern warning, stating that the attempts by the UK government to enforce clandestine restrictions represent “a paradigm shift that presents a range of significant difficulties with possibly disastrous implications”.
The online safety bill aims to address what lawmakers see as a major concern about child abuse and unregulated child sexual abuse material in the UK. It also targets pornographic deepfakes, criminalizes the encouragement of self-harm, and requires social networking sites to more strictly enforce their terms of service. The law makes it clear that any communication that violates its criteria would be subject to government surveillance. Paying a child for sexual services, instigating the development of material depicting child sexual abuse, or arranging or acquiring material depicting child sexual abuse are examples of these types of crimes.
He is a well-known expert in mobile security and malware analysis. He studied Computer Science at NYU and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2003. He is actively working as an anti-malware expert. He has also worked for security companies such as Kaspersky Lab. His daily work includes investigating new malware and cybersecurity incidents. He also has a deep level of knowledge in mobile security and mobile vulnerabilities.
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